Method and mobile terminal for accessing a service portal via bi-directional network

ABSTRACT

A user of a combined mobile telephone and IPDC receiver ( 10 ) accesses a WAP portal ( 16 ) through the Internet ( 82 ) and/or a mobile telephone network ( 81 ). The WAP portal ( 16 ) provides a service menu, comprising a number of links to service menus further down in the hierarchy or to IPDC services. The WAP portal ( 16 ) is provided with information relating to IPDC services by an IPDC operator ( 80 ). This information includes at least the name of the service, the IP address and the port number relating to each service. The information may additionally include a Network Information Table, IP/MAC Notification Table and Program Mapping Table, although this information may be provided to the mobile terminal instead by broadcast from a DVB transmitter ( 13 ). When a user of the mobile terminal ( 10 ) selects an item on the service menu presented by the WAP portal ( 16 ) which relate to IPDC service, the WAP portal pushes information relating to that service to the mobile terminal ( 10 ), allowing the mobile terminal to open an appropriate IP channel and consequently receive and consume the IPDC service.

The invention relates to a method of operating a mobile terminalcomprising accessing a service portal via a bi-directional network. Theinvention relates also to a mobile terminal comprising means foraccessing a service portal via a bi-directional network. Another aspectof the invention relates to a method of operating a service portal, andyet another aspect relates to a service portal. A further aspect of theinvention relates to a system comprising a service portal accessible viaa bi-directional network by a mobile terminal. A still further aspect ofthe invention relates to a method of operating a system comprising aservice portal and a mobile terminal.

Much has been said recently about the provision in mobile terminals, forexample mobile telephones, of the capability of receiving Internetprotocol data casting (IPDC) services, also known as IP time-slicedservices. Convention is to provide an electronic service guide (ESG) inthe mobile terminal, which is updated with ESG data transmitted over anIPDC network. The completed ESG present on a mobile terminal allowsbroadcast services to be accessed and consumed in the mobile terminal.However, this does not allow much flexibility as to the form that theESG may take, nor to how services are presented in a selectable mannerto users of a mobile terminal.

A first aspect of the invention provides a method of operating a mobileterminal, the method comprising: accessing a service portal via abi-directional network; selecting an item on a service menu included inthe service portal and corresponding to a broadcast service; receivingchannel parameter data relating to the corresponding broadcast servicefrom the service portal; using the received channel parameter data toopen a communications channel; and receiving broadcast data for thebroadcast service through the communications channel.

The service portal is in an embodiment a wireless application protocol(WAP), although it may instead take another suitable form. The channelparameter data preferably includes an Internet protocol (IP) addressand/or port number relating to the broadcast service, allowing themobile terminal to receive and consume the required service relativelyeasily. The ease of reception and consumption can be improved byproviding one or more of additional data such as, in case of DVBbroadcast, INT, NIT and PMT data, which may be provided by the serviceportal or received over the broadcast network.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided amobile terminal comprising: means for accessing a service portal via abidirectional network; means for allowing selection of an item on aservice menu included in the portal and corresponding to a broadcastservice; means for receiving from the portal channel parameter datarelating to the broadcast service; means for opening a communicationschannel using the channel parameter data; and means for receivingbroadcast data for the broadcast service through the communicationschannel.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a methodof operating a service portal, the method comprising: storing datarelating to channel parameters of one or more broadcast services;providing one or more selectable items on a service menu, each itemrelating to a broadcast service; and in response to the selection of anitem from a remote terminal, sending channel parameter data relating tothe corresponding broadcast service to the remote terminal.

Preferably, the method further comprises recording the number ofoccasions of each item being selected. This may or may not be carriedout anonymously, i.e. identifying or not the mobile terminal or asubscriber using the mobile terminal along with the data. Either way,this can allow an operator of a mobile telephone network or otherprovider of the service portal to obtain data indicative of the relativeusage of the broadcast services accessed through the service portal.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided aservice portal arranged: to store data relating to channel parameters ofone or more broadcast services; to provide one or more selectable itemson a service menu, each item relating to a broadcast service; and to beresponsive to the selection of an item by a remote terminal to sendchannel parameter data relating to the corresponding broadcast serviceto the remote terminal.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided A systemcomprising a service portal accessible via a bi-directional network by amobile terminal, the service portal being arranged to provide a servicemenu comprising one or more items each corresponding to a broadcastservice; the mobile terminal being arranged for allowing selection ofone of the items; the service portal being responsive to an itemselection to send to the mobile terminal channel parameter informationrelating to the corresponding broadcast service; the mobile terminalbeing arranged to use the channel parameter information to open acommunications channel, and to receive broadcast data for the broadcastservice through the communications channel.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a methodof operating a system comprising a service portal and a mobile terminal,the method comprising: accessing the service portal from the mobileterminal via a bi-directional network; providing a service menucomprising one or more items each corresponding to a broadcast service;using the mobile terminal to select one of the items; sending from theservice portal to the mobile terminal channel parameter informationrelating to the broadcast service; at the mobile terminal, using thereceived channel parameter information to open a communications channel;and at the mobile terminal, receiving broadcast data for the broadcastservice through the communications channel.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing illustrating one embodiment of a mobileterminal operating in an environment with a DVB system and a mobiletelephone system;

FIGS. 2 to 5 are schematic drawings illustrating exemplary screen shotsof the mobile terminal of FIG. 1 at varied stages in a service selectionprocedure;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of the mobile terminaland a WAP portal forming part of the FIG. 1 system in one embodiment ofthe invention; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 are schematic drawings of alternative systemconfigurations.

In the drawings, like reference numerals denote like elements. Referringfirstly to FIG. 1, a mobile terminal 10 is illustrated schematicallycomprising a display 11 and a keyboard 12. The mobile terminal 10includes the functionality of a mobile telephone and the functionalityof an Internet Protocol datacasting (IPDC) receiver. Much has beenwritten about such mobile terminals in recent times, so it is notnecessary to provide a detailed description here. The mobile telephonecapabilities of the mobile terminal 10 can take any form. In thisembodiment, the mobile terminal 10 is operable to communicate in a GSMor 3G network, although it may instead be operable in a networkaccording to a US, Japanese or Korean standard or a standard applicablein any other part of the world. The mobile telephone operability mayutilise orbiting satellites instead of ground based transceiverstations. The IPDC receiver means comprises at least one of aterrestrial digital video broadcasting (DVB-T) and/or a hand-helddigital video broadcasting (DVB-H) receiver. Alternatively, it may be areceiver operating to the ATSC standard, or to any other digital audioor digital video broadcasting standard.

In this example, the mobile terminal 10 is operable to receive digitalvideo broadcasting transmissions from a transmitter 13 and tocommunicate with a mobile telephone network by virtue of abi-directional link with a base station 14. The DVB transmitter 13 andthe base station 14 both are connected to an operator station 15. Inthis example, the operator station 15 is that of a combined mobiletelephone network operator and IPDC service operator. The hardware andsoftware components forming part of the operator station 15 are notcritical to the invention, so are not described here.

Shown in the operator system 15 are a WAP portal 16 and an IPDC servicesmodule 17. Both the WAP portal 16 and the IPDC services 17 are connectedto receive data from an electronic service guide (ESG) data provisionmodule 18, a service information (SI) data provision module 19 and anoperator related data provision module 20. The WAP portal 16 is intwo-way communication with the base station 14, so that data may bepassed in both directions therebetween. The IPDC services module 17 isoperable to provide data unidirectionally to the DVB transmitter 13, forforwarding onto the mobile terminal 10 and any other terminal existingwithin range of the transmitter.

The WAP portal 16 in this example comprises a service provision portallike that of T-zones™ or Vodafone livel™. The WAP portal 16 is operableto provide one or more service menus, preferably in a hierarchalfashion. Each service menu comprises a number of links to either afurther service menu lower down in the hierarchy or to a resourceproviding an end service.

The IPDC services module 17 provides a full digital broadcast service,comprising a number of services transmitted in a time-sliced fashion. Inaddition to content, the IPDC services module 17 arranges for theappropriate transmission of ESG data, SI data and other operator orservices related data, which is provided by the ESG data module 18, theSI data module 19 and the operator related data module 20 respectively.It is preferred that ESG data and SI data is included with sufficientfrequency and in such a manner that a mobile terminal, such as themobile terminal 10, can perform ESG discovery in a relatively short timeand with relatively high efficiency.

In a first embodiment, the WAP portal 16 is arranged to include dataprovided by the ESG data module 18, the SI data module 19 and theoperator related data module 20. In particular, the WAP portal 16 isprovided with, in respect of each IPDC service which the WAP portal 16is to offer, the name of the service, the Internet Protocol (IP) addressof the service and the port number of the service. Furthermore, the dataincludes the network information table (NIT), the IP/MAC notificationtable (INT), and the program mapping table (PMT) data. The NIT, INT andPMT data may be provided additionally as part of the ESG data. Theremainder of the ESG data can be ignored by the WAP portal ifinappropriate, or alternatively used by the WAP portal or forwarded ontothe mobile terminal 10.

In a second embodiment, the WAP portal 16 is not provided with all ofthe data with which the WAP portal of the first embodiment is provided.Instead, the WAP portal 16 is provided only with data indicative of thename of the service, the IP address of the service and the port number.In this case, the INT, the NIT and the PMT SI data is provided to themobile terminal 10 through the DVB network by way of the transmitter 13.This is described in more detail below.

Operation of the first embodiment is now continued with reference toFIGS. 2 to 6. In FIG. 2, a service menu, or page, of a WAP portal of themobile telephone operator is illustrated. The first service menu isknown as the ‘main page’. Here, on the display 11 are illustrated firstto sixth icons 20 a to 20 f, which are “new”, “messages”, “chat”,“download”, “games”, and “more . . . ” respectively. Also shown at thetop of the display 11 is the name of the WAP portal, in this caseVodafone livel (TM), and shown at the bottom of the display 11 arefunctions of first and second soft keys (not shown), which in thisexample are “select” and “back”. Following selection by a user of thesixth icon 20 f “more . . . ” through the keypad 12, the display 11 isaltered to that shown in FIG. 3. Here, the name of the service menu isprovided at the top of the display 11, and the functions of soft keysare shown at the bottom of the display 11. Also, first to sixth items 30a to 30 f are illustrated. The third item 30 c is “sport”, which whenselected by user using the keypad 12 or other selecting means (notshown) provided in the terminal causes the mobile terminal 10 to showthe display illustrated in FIG. 4.

In FIG. 4, the uppermost section of the display 11 shows the name of theservice menu, which in this case is “sport”. A number of servicesavailable in this service menu are listed as first to fifth items 40 ato 40 e. In this example, the second item 40 b relates to ‘football’,and it is illustrated as part of the item that a live match betweenBrazil and Germany currently forms the basis of an IPDC service beingtransmitted by the DVB transmitter 13. When the second item 40 b isselected by a 30 user, the mobile terminal 10 begins to receive theservice, as illustrated in FIG. 5.

Items in the service menus relating to IPDC services are shown in thesame way as other items, or in a very similar way. In the example shown,the fact that the second item 40 b relates to an IPDC service isillustrated by some smaller text to the right side of the larger textwhich gives the name of the item in the service menu.

A number of steps are carried out in the background between theselection of the second item 40 b of FIG. 4 and the consumption of theIPDC service relating thereto, as will now be described with referenceto FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating certain operations ofthe mobile terminal 10 and the WAP portal 16. The process begins at stepS60, with the mobile terminal 10 requesting a WAP page which relates tothe WAP portal 16 of the mobile network operator. The requesttransmitted at step 60 includes an identification of the mobile terminaland/or the user/subscriber of the terminal. This identification maycomprise the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), dataindicating the make and model, and possibly also the software releasenumber of the mobile terminal 10, the IPDC terminal identifier, or anyother suitable identification and/or characterisation. The exact form ofthe data is not necessary, so is not described in detail here. Thisrequest is received at the WAP portal 16 at step S61. Following thisstep, the service menu is provided at step S62. This involves thetransmission from the base station 14 of pushed data allowing theservice menu illustrated in FIG. 2 to be presented on the display 11 ofthe mobile terminal 10. The service menu is then displayed at the mobileterminal at step S63. The user then may navigate through the servicemenu and service menus falling below it in the hierarchy by way of userinput S64. When the user selects an item forming part of a service menuwhich relates to an IPDC service, instead of another service menu or anon-IPDC service, data indicating the selection is transmitted from themobile terminal at S65. The item selection data is received at the WAPportal 16 at step S66. In response, the WAP portal 16 obtains thechannel parameter information relating to the service which correspondsto the selected item at step S67. In the first embodiment, this channelparameter information is the name of the service, the IP address and theport number, which is sent at step S68 and received at step S69 at themobile terminal 10. At step S70, the mobile terminal obtains SI datarelating to the selected service. In the first embodiment, the SI datais transmitted from the WAP portal 16 at step S71. This SI data includesthe INT, the NIT and the PMT SI data mentioned above. In the secondembodiment, the step S70 involves obtaining SI data by listening tobroadcasts from the DVB transmitter 13. It will be appreciated that itwill in most cases be impractical to wait until the channel parameterinformation is received at step S69 before obtaining the SI data.Instead, the mobile terminal 10 is arranged to monitor periodicallytransmissions from the DVB transmitter 13 and to maintain in a memory(not shown) up-to-date ESG and SI data. In this case, the obtaining SIdata step S70 involves reading the stored SI data from the memory (notshown) included in the mobile terminal 10.

In both the first and second embodiments, the mobile terminal, havingreceived the channel parameter information and obtained the SI data atsteps S69 and S70, opens an IP channel using the received information atstep S72. The mobile terminal can then receive and consume the IPDCservice at step S73.

The opening of the IP channel step S72 will be appreciated to includeopening the required IP port, and optionally filters forming part of themobile terminal 10.

The step S68 may also comprise sending data identifying an applicationwhich is needed to consume the selected IPDC service. In this case, themobile terminal 10 is responsive to the data to open, i.e. run thesoftware comprising, the application. Alternatively, the mobile terminal10 could determine from the received service data what application isneeded.

Optionally, the WAP portal 16 includes an additional step S74, in whichthe selection of the IPDC service by the mobile terminal 10 is recorded.This step S74 is interposed between the step of receiving the selectionat S66 and the step S67 of obtaining the channel parameter information.The recording of the information at step S74 allows the gathering ofinformation identifying the number of mobile terminals which request thedifferent IPDC services available through the WAP portal 16. Thisinformation can be of use to the mobile network operator, since it canallow it to tailor the IPDC services provided through its WAP portal 16to make more prominent popular services and to make less prominent, oreven omit entirely, services which are not popular or which are notused. If the mobile terminal 10 accesses a service directly from the DVBtransmitter 13 without involving the WAP portal 16, the mobile networkoperator is unable to obtain information about service usage without theuser of the mobile terminal voluntarily providing the information.

Preferably, the step of recording user selections at S74 is performedanonymously, i.e. the WAP portal 16 does not record informationidentifying the mobile terminal 10 or the subscriber using the mobileterminal when noting what IPDC services have been accessed through theWAP portal.

An advantage of the first embodiment described above is that the mobileterminal 10 does not need to listen to broadcasts from the DVBtransmitter 13 before receiving a service, as would normally be thecase. Instead, all of the information needed to access the requiredservice is available through the WAP portal 16. This can reduce the timerequired to access the service, and may also provide reduced batterypower consumption.

An additional optional step is carried out in the WAP portal 16, namelythe step of personalising the service menu. This is illustrated at stepS75. Step S75 involves analysing the terminal/subscriber identificationand characterisation information transmitted from the mobile terminal atstep S60. Only IPDC services which are suitable for the mobile terminalare included in the service menu at step S62. A service is not suitableif, for example, the mobile terminal 10 does not have the capability ofconsuming the service. This may be, for example, because it is notprovided with the software application which is needed to consume thedata, or perhaps because it is not provided with appropriate outputtransducers. For example, the display 11 of the mobile terminal 10 maynot have a suitable resolution for consumption of certain services, orit may be that the mobile terminal does not have appropriate audiooutput facilities, for example stereophonic audio reproductioncapability. The information that the WAP portal 16 needs to determinewhether or not the mobile terminal 10 is capable of consuming the datarelating to a service forms part of the ESG data and the SI dataprovided by the ESG data module 18 and the SI data module 19respectively.

The personalising step S75 may also include determining from dataidentifying the subscriber IPDC services which the subscriber is notauthorised to access. This may occur if, for example, a subscriber isroaming in a foreign network.

Personalisation occurs on each generation of a service menu for themobile terminal 10. In particular, the main page shown in a displayscreen of a mobile terminal has a service menu personalised to takeaccount of the particulars of the mobile terminal 10 or the subscriberusing the mobile terminal, and service menus generated at positionsfurther down the hierarchy from the main page also are personalised totake account of this.

Instead of not including inappropriate items on a service menu, they maybe included but distinguished from the other items, for example by beingdisplayed in a different colour. A user would then know that thecorresponding services are not fully accessible using the mobileterminal 10. Each such item preferably is provided by the WAP portal 16such that selecting it results in redirection to a WAP page (or otherinformation provision service) giving instructions on how to access thecorresponding service. This information may be instructions to downloadan appropriate software application, to buy a suitable terminal, orperhaps may include directions for accessing the service in a differentway, for example using the world wide web or a television receiver.

In a further embodiment, again described with reference to FIG. 6, thepersonalisation of service menus is not performed prior to the provisionof service menu step S62. Instead, if the WAP portal 16 receives at stepS66 data selecting an IPDC service which is unsuitable for the mobileterminal (either because the mobile terminal 10 does not have thecapability to consume the service or because it is not authorised toreceive the service), the user is redirected to a personalised servicemenu page. Here, data is pushed to the mobile terminal 10 to provide aservice menu which lists only services that the mobile terminal iscapable of consuming and/or is authorised to receive. The WAP portal 16provides on this service menu only services which are similar to theIPDC service selected at step S65. The personalised service menuprovided following redirection may also include text indicating thatredirection has been effected, in order to inform the user.

A further embodiment will now be described with reference to FIG. 7. InFIG. 7, the mobile terminal 10 is operable to receive signals broadcastby a DVB transmitter 13, as in FIG. 1. However, an IPDC operator 80 isseparated from a mobile network 81. The IPDC operator 80 and theoperator of the mobile network 81 may or may not be the same entity, andmay or may not be present at different locations. In the embodiment ofFIG. 7, the data provided by the ESG data module 18, the SI data module19 and the operator related data module 20 are provided to the mobiletelephone network 81 via the Internet 82 by the IPDC operator.Alternatively, the Internet 82 could be replaced by any other suitablecommunications channel. The mobile network 81 preferably is arranged torequest up-to-date information from the IPDC operator 80 as and whenrequired, for example a predetermined time before data stored in themobile network is due to expire. However, any other suitable schemecould be used instead.

In this example, the WAP portal 16 is shown as forming part of themobile telephone network 81, which will typically be the case when theuser of the mobile terminal 10 wishes to access the service menu of hisor her mobile telephone network operator. The WAP portal 16 may belocated at any convenient location within the mobile network 81. In thisexample, the ESG data module 18, the SI data module 19 and the operatorrelated data module 20 form part of the IPDC operator 80, although notshown in FIG. 7.

A further example will now be described with reference to FIG. 8. Here,the WAP portal 16 does not form part of the mobile telephone network.Instead, it is connected to the IPDC operator 80 and the mobile network81 by the Internet82. Alternatively, a different communication channelcould be utilised, or a separate communication channel utilised for eachof the separate connections. The WAP portal 16 is provided with ESGdata, SI data and operator related data from the IPDC operator 80 in anysuitable manner. The main difference here is that when the mobileterminal 10 requires data from the WAP portal 16, the request for datais routed through the mobile network 81 and the Internet 82 to the WAPportal 16. Similarly, data pushed from the WAP portal 16 to the mobileterminal 10 passes through the Internet 82 and the mobile network 81.

Allowing access to IPDC services through the WAP portal 16, with orwithout providing SI data, has the advantage that it allows users toaccess IPDC services through a familiar user interface. Suitableconstruction of the service menus in the WAP portal 16 can allow all ofthe appropriate IDPC services to be provided to the user of the mobileterminal 10 through the WAP portal 16, thereby allowing the user toavoid DVB ESG usage if required.

The above-described embodiments are illustrative only, and are notintended to be limiting on the scope of protection afforded. Any featurespecified as being preferable or optional is not essential, but insteadmay be omitted entirely or replaced by another feature. Anything whichis said ‘may’ be included or ‘may’ have some characteristic also ispreferable, and could be omitted or instead replaced with anotherfeature or characteristic. The scope of protection is to be limited onlyby the accompanying claims and their equivalents.

1. A method of operating a mobile terminal, the method comprising:accessing a service portal via a bidirectional network; selecting anitem on a service menu included in the service portal and correspondingto a broadcast service; receiving channel parameter data relating to thecorresponding broadcast service from the service portal; using thereceived channel parameter data to open a communications channel; andreceiving broadcast data for the broadcast service through thecommunications channel.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, in which thechannel parameter data includes an Internet protocol address and/or aport number relating to the broadcast service.
 3. A method as claimed inclaim 1, further comprising receiving service information data.
 4. Amethod as claimed in claim 3, in which the service information datacomprises one or more of an IP/MAC notification table, a networkinformation table, and a program mapping table.
 5. A method as claimedin claim 3, comprising receiving the service information data from theservice portal.
 6. A method as claimed in claim 3, comprising receivingthe service information data over a broadcast network.
 7. A method asclaimed in claim 1, comprising receiving data from the service portalidentifying an application, and, in response, opening the application inthe mobile terminal.
 8. A method as claimed in claim 1, in which theservice portal is a wireless application protocol service.
 9. A methodas claimed in claim 1, further comprising sending data identifying asubscriber, the mobile terminal and/or terminal capabilities to theservice portal.
 10. A mobile terminal comprising: means for accessing aservice portal via a bidirectional network; means for allowing selectionof an item on a service menu included in the portal and corresponding toa broadcast service; means for receiving from the portal channelparameter data relating to the broadcast service; means for opening acommunications channel using the channel parameter data; and means forreceiving broadcast data for the broadcast service through thecommunications channel.
 11. A terminal as claimed in claim 10, in whichthe channel parameter data includes an Internet protocol address and/ora port number relating to the broadcast service.
 12. A terminal asclaimed in claim 10, comprising means for receiving service informationdata.
 13. A terminal as claimed in claim 12, in which the serviceinformation data comprises one or more of an IP/MAC notification table,a network information table, and a program mapping table.
 14. A terminalas claimed in claim 12, arranged to receive the service information datafrom the service portal.
 15. A terminal as claimed in claim 12, arrangedto receive the service information data over a broadcast network.
 16. Aterminal as claimed in claim 10, comprising means responsive to datareceived from the service portal identifying an application for openingthe application in the terminal.
 17. A terminal as claimed in claim 10,in which the service portal is a wireless application protocol service.18. A mobile terminal as claimed in claims 10, further comprising meansfor sending data identifying a subscriber, the terminal and/or terminalcapabilities to the service portal.
 19. A method of operating a serviceportal, the method comprising: storing data relating to channelparameters of one or more broadcast services; providing one or moreselectable items on a service menu, each item relating to a broadcastservice; and in response to the selection of an item from a remoteterminal, sending channel parameter data relating to the correspondingbroadcast service to the remote terminal.
 20. A method as claimed inclaim 19, further comprising recording the number of occasions of eachitem being selected.
 21. A method as claimed in claim 19, comprising:determining which services the terminal is capable of consuming and/oris permitted to access, and providing on the service menu only itemsrelating to appropriate services.
 22. A method as claimed in claim 19,comprising: determining whether the terminal is capable of consumingand/or is permitted to access the broadcast service relating to theselected item, and in response to a negative determination, providing aservice menu listing one or more appropriate services.
 23. A method asclaimed in claim 19, comprising transmitting data identifying anapplication suitable for consuming the broadcast service.
 24. A serviceportal arranged: to store data relating to channel parameters of one ormore broadcast services; to provide one or more selectable items on aservice menu, each item relating to a broadcast service; and to beresponsive to the selection of an item by a remote terminal to sendchannel parameter data relating to the corresponding broadcast serviceto the remote terminal.
 25. A service portal as claimed in claim 24,comprising means for recording the number of occasions of each itembeing selected.
 26. A service portal as claimed in claim 24, arranged todetermine services the terminal is capable of consuming and/or ispermitted to access, and to provide on the service menu only itemsrelating to appropriate services.
 27. A service portal as claimed inclaim 24, comprising means arranged to determine whether the terminal iscapable of consuming and/or is permitted to access the broadcast servicerelating to a selected item, and responsive to a negative determinationto provide a service menu listing one or more appropriate services. 28.A service portal as claimed in claim 24, arranged to transmit dataidentifying an application suitable for consuming the broadcast service.29. A system comprising a service portal accessible via a bidirectionalnetwork by a mobile terminal, the service portal being arranged toprovide a service menu comprising one or more items each correspondingto a broadcast service; the mobile terminal being arranged for allowingselection of one of the items; the service portal being responsive to anitem selection to send to the mobile terminal channel parameterinformation relating to the corresponding broadcast service; the mobileterminal being arranged to use the channel parameter information to opena communications channel, and to receive broadcast data for thebroadcast service through the communications channel.
 30. A method ofoperating a system comprising a service portal and a mobile terminal,the method comprising: accessing the service portal from the mobileterminal via a bidirectional network; providing a service menucomprising one or more items each corresponding to a broadcast service;using the mobile terminal to select one of the items; sending from theservice portal to the mobile terminal channel parameter informationrelating to the broadcast service; at the mobile terminal, using thereceived channel parameter information to open a communications channel;and at the mobile terminal, receiving broadcast data for the broadcastservice through the communications channel.